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Annalise Keating
Annalise Keating, formally known as Anna Mae Harkness, is a character on ABC's How to Get Away with Murder. She débuts in the first episode of the first season. She is portrayed by starring cast member Viola Davis. History Early Life Little is known about Annalise's childhood, however, her mother has revealed some information. As a child, Annalise grew up very poor, but her mother made sure she was fed, had a roof over her head and clothes on her back. As a child, Annalise was sexually abused by her uncle Clyde Harkness. When one night, Ophelia caught Clyde exiting Annalise's room, knowing what he had done, she burned their house down while Clyde was asleep, presumably killing him. Sometime after graduating Harvard Law, Annalise changed her name from Anna Mae and started her law office. Annalise reading the newspaper article about the dead girl that was found in the water tank. Sam says that he has to work with the students in grief counselling and heads to work. "The Gang" Annalise Keating first meets her students on their first day of law school. After welcoming them to the class, she asks them facts on a case called "The Aspirin Assassin". During this she gets to know Connor, Asher, Michaela, Wes and Laurel. She reveals to the class that the case is one she's working on now, so takes the students to see Gina Sadowski, the defendant. As a challenge, Annalise tasks the students to come up with a defense for the case, promising the winners a job in her firm. After hearing all the students ideas, she decides to take a select few to the court hearings. During the first sessions, Annalise questions Linda Tanner, the assistant of the victim. With help from Michaela, who found some vital information, she's able to discredit her testimony. That night, Annalise prepares to have sex with detective Nate Lahey in her office, but she's caught by Wes who came with a suggestion for the trial. In the next court session, Annalise is able to point the blame onto someone else with help from Connor, who obtained an email that incriminates another colleague, Lionel Bryant. Annalise attends a formal party that night with her husband, Sam Keating. She confronts Wes, who promises not to tell, and she explains that her marriage is strained because of baby troubles. When Annalise returns to the office with her husband, she's unaware of the jealous looks Bonnie gives when she kisses her husband. The next day in court, incriminating evidence is shown against Gina on a tape, putting their position in danger. Annalise scolds Gina for not telling them she bought aspirin and in a last ditch effort, she brings her love Nate into court and forces him to lie about videotapes being forged with. This finally allows them to win their case and Gina walks free...although guilty. Back in class, Annalise reveals the winners of the competition and the ones who'll work at her firm: Connor, Michaela, Asher, Laurel and Wes. Wes questions the legitimacy of him winning, but she insists she liked his idea when he presented it. That night, when missing girl Lila Stangard's dead body is found, Annalise comforts her husband as she was one of his students. She then finishes by commenting that she bets the boyfriend did it. Annalise reads an article on Lila Stangard one morning and finds it odd when Sam comments that her body being in a water tank would’ve destroyed most evidence. Later on, during a lecture, Annalise introduces the next case she’s working on. She takes her chosen students to visit Max St. Vincent’s house where he preserved the murder scene of his wife. She tasks them with coming up with something to help win the case. When they head back to the office, Annalise takes Wes aside to give him a personal task for the case. The other students comment how odd it is that he was even picked. Wes completes the task, but points out a discrepancy. Annalise uses this to discredit a witness in the case, Jake Dorsey. She then uses information gained by Connor to discredit any motive to kill. And finally, with help from Asher raiding bins, she’s able to come up with an alibi for Max. After a court session, Annalise runs into Nate. She tries to apologise for embarrassing him on the stand, but he threatens to reveal everything if she speaks to him again. That night, at home, Annalise goes through Sam's phone and discovers that he'd been messaging Lila. The next step for Max's case is introducing a character witness, they bring in his daughter, Eloise who shows she'd happily let him die if he ended up being guilty. However, in the courthouse, it's shockingly revealed that Max's first wife had also been murdered in a similar fashion to his second wife. Annalise scolds Max for keeping this fact a secret. Back at the office, Annalise asks Sam if he was sleeping with Lila. However, he insists he didn't. The next day at court, thanks to Laurel, Annalise proves that even though Max killed his first wife, he didn't kill the one he's on trial for because of the differences in the two killings. This ends up winning her case for her. Back at home, Annalise checks Sam's phone again and discovers he deleted messages from Lila. She is then is forced to sleep with Sam to prove she trusts him, however, afterwards she begins crying. She then sneaks out to find Nate and she asks him for help, claiming she thinks Sam killed Lila. Appearances Season One *"Pilot" *"It's All Her Fault" *"Smile, or Go to Jail" *"Let's Get to Scooping" *"We're Not Friends" *"Freakin' Whack-a-Mole" *"He Deserved to Die" *"He Has a Wife" *"Kill Me, Kill Me, Kill Me" *"Hello, Raskolnikov" *"Best Christmas Ever" *"She's a Murderer" *"Mama's Here Now" *"The Night Lila Died" *"It's All My Fault" Season Two *"It's Time to Move On" *"She's Dying" *"It's Called the Octopus" *"Skanks Get Shanked" *"Meet Bonnie" *"Two Birds, One Milstone" *"I Want You to Die" *"Hi, I'm Philip" *"What Did We Do?" *"What Happened to You, Annalise?" *"She Hates Us" *"It's a Trap" *"Something Bad Happened" *"There's My Baby" *"Anna Mae" Trivia Production Notes *In an original version of the "Pilot" script, her name was Annalise DeWitt. Behind the Scenes *The iconic scene where Annalise Keating is wiping off her make up and removing her wig was Viola Davis's idea. *Viola Davis played a defense lawyer in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999). References